“People who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones that actually do.”, said Steve Jobs. A decade back, people still depended on road-side taxis for a commute. But then, a crazy idea popped up to a person in the US. ‘Can I provide taxi services to people via a smartphone?’ The answer to this question has revolutionized almost every industry around the globe. That was when the Uberization began. On-demand apps are ruling almost every industry nowadays.
Even today, one of the popular on-demand services is taxi and transportation services. The taxi services market is expected to return $285 billion in revenue by 2030. The ride-sharing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.87% between 2018 and 2025. With this being said, let’s take a look at how these on-demand taxi apps are developed. You needn’t do a separate search for the development cost involved. In this blog, the development stages and the economy involved in developing an app like Uber are discussed.
Development stages of an Uber-like app:
Stage 1: Extensive Market Study
This is a primary step in taxi app development. You need to do an extensive market study of your locality. By doing a market study, you’ll get to know what the market is expecting from you. Moreover, you get to know the flaws of your competitors. This is a primary step to identify the needs of your target audience.
To know the latest market trends and to stay competitive in the market, the market study is highly essential. A market study usually takes 100-150 hours of the total time.
Stage 2: UI/UX Design
User interfaces are the key to flawless functioning of the app. Hence, designing the UI/UX becomes paramount. In this stage, creating a basic version of the app and refining the design takes place. This stage usually takes about 100 hours for designing and refining.
Stage 3: Front-end development
This stage is a time-consuming one. Front-end development is also known as ‘the client’ end of app development. Let us discuss various front-end functionalities here,
- User registration and User profiles: The first impression is ideally the best impression your app can ever get. Initially, users register in the app via different social media handles. This functionality must be flawless because only if the users are satisfied with this stage, they’ll proceed further with the app. You can also consider the authentication of users to avoid fake profiles. On average, this stage takes around 100 hours.
- Payment gateways: Users should have the option to pay via different payment gateways, including credit, debit cards, digital wallets, etc. For this functionality, encryption and processing payments securely are needed. You can integrate an already existing payment gateway or create a gateway of your own. Either way, this takes around 80 hours.
- In-app navigation: This is a must-have functionality in on-demand apps. For in-app navigation, you need to integrate location services. Google Maps integration is ideal for android apps, and CoreLocation is ideal for iOS apps. This functionality takes around 50 hours on average.
- Ratings and Reviews: Users need to share their experience in the form of ratings and reviews. This functionality, on average, takes 80 hours.
Front-end development consumes the major time in app development. It takes around 400 hours for developing the front end.
Stage 4: Back-end development
Back-end development is also known as the ‘server’ end of development. This involves managing servers and databases. There are various technologies used in back-end development. They are,
Databases: MySQL, Cassandra, etc.
Languages: Python, Java, etc.
Back-end development usually takes around 200 hours.
Stage 5: App testing
Testing your app makes it bug-free. It is ideal to launch an app free from errors. This is possible only when the Quality Assurance team works in collaboration with the developers’ team. Frequent testing of the app reduces bugs and increases the productivity of the app. A tried and tested model testing can ensure seamless app functioning. The greater the app testing, the more efficient the developed app is. Ensuring alpha and beta testing sections on Google play and a software tool for beta testing on iOS can come in handy.
App testing varies from development to development. An app testing usually takes one-third of the time allocated for front-end development. This app testing stage continues throughout the development of the app. Usually, it takes around 2-4 months for app testing.
Stage 6: App launching and promotion
The development doesn’t end with app testing alone. You need to launch the app across different digital platforms like Android, iOS, etc. Once the app is launched, the promotion of the app sets in. You need to promote your app across different social media handles. Your app will be successful only if it gains popularity in the market. You can hire a project management team to take care of app launching and promotion. This stage may take varied hours depending upon the marketing style implemented.
Stage 7: Post-launch support
Defects and bugs are inevitable in any app. Even after a rigorous testing model, your app will have issues post-launch. Hence, the post-launch support team is highly essential. The post-launch support team takes care of regular updates of the app. You need to spend on this stage because users’ queries needs to be resolved almost instantly. This stage doesn’t incur specified working hours. However, a team to support your app post-launch can come in handy.
Software development rates:
The software development rates vary from location to location. Across the globe, there are certain hotspot areas for software development. The rates in those areas are discussed here,
- India, China – These Asian countries are the cheapest for software development. The rates vary between $10-$80 per hour.
- Egypt, Nigeria – The software development rates in these African countries vary between $20-$50 per hour.
- The United Kingdom – On average, software development rates in the UK can cost you $100 per hour.
- The US – The home to Silicon Valley is probably the most expensive hotspot for software development. The rates vary between $80-$200 per hour.
Conclusion:
Now that you know the development stages, and the economy involved, make sure you properly plan your development. However, the development process is tedious. If you are a newbie to this taxi-services market, you can venture into the market with a Uber clone app. There are various uber clone apps available in the market. Guess what? Developing a taxi app from scratch can cost you at least $15,000 while getting a clone app can cost you only around $1999. So, act wisely and thrive in the market.
